BOONE, N.C. – Chris Burgess' three-pointer with 2:52 to go snapped a 59-59 tie and lifted Appalachian State University men's basketball to a 65-62 win over Troy on Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Center.

With the victory, Appalachian State (9-12, 6-6 Sun Belt) snapped a two-game skid and completed a season sweep of Sun Belt Conference rival Troy (9-13, 4-9 Sun Belt). Appalachian defeated the Trojans, 69-64, on Jan. 19 in Troy, Ala.

The Mountaineers led by 10 points early in the second period and were up 57-48 with 7:32 to go in the ballgame but Troy went on an 11-2 run to pull even for the first time since early in the ballgame.

However, Troy never regained the lead thanks to Burgess' big trey, which gave App State the lead for good with just under three minutes left to play. The Mountaineers clung to the three-point lead for nearly two minutes before Burgess gave them some breathing room when he fed Griffin Kinney for a short jumper that extended the advantage to 64-59 with 56 seconds left.

A free throw by Frank Eaves stretched the lead six points with 13 seconds left before Troy's Chris Bilbo hit an inconsequential three-pointer with 0.9 seconds to go to account for the final margin.

Saturday's first half was one of Appalachian's best offensive performances of the season as the Mountaineers connected on 50.0 percent (10-of-20) from the floor over the opening 20 minutes of play.

Appalachian State got on the board first when Michael Obacha hit a pair of free throws on the Mountaineers' first possession. In fact, Obacha scored App State's first six points of the ballgame to stake the Apps to an early 6-2 lead with 16:43 on the clock.

After pushing the lead to five points (9-4) just over two minutes later, the Mountaineers fell prey to a quick 6-0 run by the Trojans that saw Troy take a one-point lead (10-9) when Kevin Thomas hit a free throw at the 13:10 mark.

After regaining the lead on Dustin Clarke's jumper on the ensuing possession, Appalachian would fall behind again when Thomas hit a layup to make it a 12-11 Trojan advantage.

It would be the last time that the Mountaineers would trail as Eaves answered from deep to put the Apps up by two (14-12) with just over 10 minutes to go as Appalachian State rode the momentum to a six-point halftime lead (33-27).

The Mountaineers were able to extend the lead to 10 points (37-27) early in the second half when Tommy Spagnolo nailed a jumper with 18:04 left in the ballgame.

Troy was able to cut the deficit to just two points on two separate occasions in the next 10 minutes, but Appalachian pushed its lead back to nine (57-48) when Burgess connected from beyond the arc with just over seven minutes to play.

That's when Troy mustered one final push and reeled off its late, 11-2 run to tie the game at 59-59, but Appalachian was able to hang on for its third-straight home victory.

Burgess and Eaves each scored a game-high 15 points and fished out four assists. Eaves also tied a career-high with eight rebounds, matching Spagnolo for the team lead. Spagnolo added 10 points on the night while Obacha finished with eight points and six boards.

Thomas paced the Trojans with 13 points and a game-high-tying nine rebounds. Bilbo added 12 points off the bench while Musa Abdul-Aleem scored 11 and grabbed nine boards. Wesley Person finished with 10 points to round out Troy's double-digit scorers.

On the day, the Mountaineers shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the floor, including 8-of-19 from long range. Troy shot 40.0 percent (22-of-55) but went just 5-of-17 from deep and lost the rebounding battle by a 41-31 tally.

Appalachian State returns to action on Thursday when it hosts UALR at 3:30 p.m. inside the Holmes Center.

NOTES: Appalachian State improved to 4-0 all-time against Troy ... freshman guard Jake Babic made his first collegiate start and scored nine points ... Saturday's lineup was just Appalachian's third different starting five of the season ... last year the Mountaineers used 12 different starting combinations ... three different Mountaineers finished with four assists (Burgess, Clarke and Eaves) ... the team's assist total (15) was the third-highest of the season.